Robert james stead



, (NoModeL) f R. J. STEAD.

BEE ESCAPE.

No. 507,50 I Patented. Oct. 24, 18-93,

1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT JAMES STEAD, OF LANARK, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHNHERBERTSON WILSON, OF SAME PLACE.

BEE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 507,506, dated October24, 1893.

Application filed June 16, 1893- fierial No. 477,787- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT JAMES STEAD, of Lanark, in the county ofLanark, in the Province of Ontario and Dominion of Canada, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Bee-Escapes; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof.

My invention, which will be hereinafter fully set forth and claimed,relates to escapes for bee hives.

The object of my invention is a contrivance by which a number of beesmay pass out of the super simultaneously, so as to effeet a clearingquickly and prevent their reentrance, that can be locked to preventpassage, that will admit light into the super and that will ventilateit.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the escape, one half being shownlocked. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same, showing the escape boardin cross section. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the same on line 00a; Figs. 1 and 2, showing one of the gates lifted. Fig. 4 is atransverse section of the same on line y y Figs. 1 and 2, showing thegate down. Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the same on line 2 2 Figs.1 and 2, showing the gate locked.

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of one of the.

gates, and Fig. 7 is a top view of the escape secured to the escapeboard upon which the super rests. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the frame Aand Fig. 9 is a horizontal section of the same with the lock-bar E.

A strip of sheet metal is folded or cut and soldered to form three sidesof a long and narrow flat frame A. A wire B, held by the short sides,completes the frame and forms the top of it. Upon this wire is strung aseries of gates O, which hang and swing freely on said wire. Said gatesconsist of a strip of sheet metal, doubled up to form a quasi tubulareye 0, from which one portion, 0 c, depends down a little below the topedge a of the frame A and the other portion, 0 is bent downward andoutward, forming a kind of balance weight which tends to press the lowerend of the portion 0' against the edgea of the frame A. The part c 0consists of two narrow strips formed by having the central part 2between them cut away from the lower edge to near the tubular eye 0,thus leaving the two outside strips 0 c, the slit thus formed betweenthem being sufficiently narrow to prevent a bee passingthrough it. Aspace, 3, is also left between each pair of gates, by inserting a washerD,a glass bead is suitable-between two adjacent tubes 0.

E is a lock bar, consisting of a strip of sheet metal extendingtransversely from one upright end of the frame to the other and adaptedto slide on the latter by having its ends turned over around saiduprights.

Holes 0. are provided in the frame or rim A to facilitate its beingsecured over an opening, such as the opening in the rim f of the escapeboard F, upon which rim the super is placed.

' The gates O, of which there may be eight or more in the space of fourinches, which is the size I prefer to make the width of the opening,being very light, swing freely upon the wire B and are therefore pushedoutward by the bees without effort, when they escape between the loweredges of the parts 0 and over the edge a of the frame A. To return whenonce out, they would have to draw the parts 0 toward them and then passunderthe lower edge, a feat of which they are not capable. The openspaces 2 and 3 allow of better ventilation and give light which attractsthe attention of the bees to the escape. When the super is taken off thehive and placed on the escape board F, the lock bar E may be raised, soas to be in front of the gates 0, thus locking them and preventing thebees from opening the gates and escaping and thus exciting them in orderto hurry their exit when the escape is unlocked.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a bee escape, the combination of an openflat frame A consisting of a bottom bar and two uprights or ends, a wireB completing said frame and forming the top to it, a series ofperforated gates O hung on said wire a little distance apart andextending below the upper edge of the bottom bar of said frame and alock-bar E parallel to the wire B and extending across the upright endsof the frame 0 bent downwardly and outwardly, substan- IO and secured tothem slidingly so as to be held vertically movable thereon,substantially as set forth.

2. In a gate for a bee escape, the combination of a strip doubled up toform two sides and a tubular eye 0 adapted for a hinge pin, one sideformed in two strips 0' c by cutting out a strip between them and theother side tially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed in the presence of the undersignedwitnesses.

ROBERT JAMES STEAD.

Witnesses:

J OHN MAoLEAN, WM. S. TRAYNOR.

